Suspense
The Mesmerist : a novel
Caroline (Caroline Courtney) Woods
FICTION Woods Caroline
Historical Fiction, Suspense
"A tightly plotted page-turner ripped from the headlines of history, as three very different women must work together to stop a killer and save the truest home they've ever known"--
The cliffs : a novel
J. Courtney Sullivan
FICTION Sullivan, J. Courtney
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Suspense, Paranormal
A Harvard archivist, returning to Maine after a terrible mistake, Jane is hired to research the history of a Victorian house and the women who lived there, uncovering a story of lost lovers, romantic longing, shattering loss and the long shadow of colonialism that is even older than Maine itself.
This book was actually a very appropriate read for Spooky Season, with the plot revolving around a house on the cliffs that is haunted by it's past. I quite enjoyed this book for the variety of story lines intertwining a house and its occupants over the years, from the past and the present and across cultures including the Shakers, Indigenous People who lived in the northern portion of Maine, and a women healing from family trauma and struggling with alcoholism. The research done by the author for this book was very satisfying for me, and the story is driven by a mystery rooted in the history which is solved through mysticism, spiritualism, and research and an acknowledgement that the future is affected by the heritage of its people and the land they occupy. -Mari
Small Things Like These
Clair Keegan
"It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church." --
Ooh! Excited for this film adaption of a book that unfolded like a movie in my mind! Here's a description of the film: While making a delivery to the local convent, devoted father and coal merchant Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy) makes a shocking discovery. Christmas 1985 in small town Ireland is going to take a turn for this working class family. In this unflinching look at the Magdalene laundries, workhouses for unwed mothers run by the Catholic Church, Bill must confront the complicity of his town and the harm done by the church he was raised in. Adapted from Claire Keegan's award-winning historical fiction novel of the same name by acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Enda Walsh, this powerful drama examines the personal and historical truths that shaped a people. -Katie
A botanist's guide to parties and poisons
Kate Khavari
MYSTERY Khavari Kate
Mystery, Suspense, Adventure, Science
London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh attends a dinner party for the University College of London. While she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon, she doesn't expect Mrs. Henry, one of the professors' wives to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin. Dr. Maxwell, Saffron's mentor, is the main suspect, having had an explosive argument with Dr. Henry a few days prior. As evidence mounts against Dr. Maxwell and the expedition's departure draws nearer, Saffron realizes if she wants her mentor's name cleared, she'll have to do it herself.
I devoured the first two Botanist's Guide books last summer and was pleasantly surprised to find that the latest installment is here! It did not disappoint. If you have yet to try any of the Saffron Everleigh series and enjoy dark academia or murder mysteries, now might be the time to start at the beginning! -Casey
Reckless girls
Rachel Hawkins
FICTION Hawkins Rachel
Fiction, Thriller, Suspense
When Lux McAllister and her boyfriend, Nico, are hired to sail two women to a remote island in the South Pacific, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Stuck in a dead-end job in Hawaii, and longing to travel the world after a family tragedy, Lux is eager to climb on board The Susannah and set out on an adventure. She's also quick to bond with their passengers, college best friends Brittany and Amma. The two women say they want to travel off the beaten path. But like Lux, they may have other reasons to be seeking an escape. Shimmering on the horizon after days at sea, Meroe Island is every bit the paradise the foursome expects, despite a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. But what they don't expect is to discover another boat already anchored off Meroe's sandy beaches. The owners of the Azure Sky, Jake and Eliza, are a true golden couple: gorgeous, laidback, and if their sleek catamaran and well-stocked bar are any indication, rich. Now a party of six, the new friends settle in to experience life on an exotic island, and the serenity of being completely off the grid. Lux hasn't felt like she truly belonged anywhere in years, yet here on Meroe, with these fellow free spirits, she finally has a sense of peace. But with the arrival of a skeevy stranger sailing alone in pursuit of a darker kind of good time, the balance of the group is disrupted. Soon, cracks begin to emerge: it seems that Brittany and Amma haven't been completely honest with Lux about their pasts--and perhaps not even with each other. And though Jake and Eliza seem like the perfect pair, the rocky history of their relationship begins to resurface, and their reasons for sailing to Meroe might not be as innocent as they first appeared. When it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in on them. And when one person goes missing, and another turns up dead, Lux begins to wonder if any of them are going to make it off the island alive"--
I really enjoyed Hawkins' novel The Villa, so I picked this up to take on vacation...it turned out to be a perfectly good beach-read! A group of twenty- to thirty-somethings find themselves on a small, uninhabited island for a spot of remote relaxation, but of course, things go awry when an uninvited guest gets their guard up and their imaginations going. That's not all, though--there are some weird dynamics going on in the background for each of our islanders, personal traumas and fears, that make for unique interactions and hidden motives. There's nothing ground-breaking going on here, but if you want a solid thriller with a great location, and some better-than-average thinking about what it means to live in the aftermath of major change and life interruptions, this book will do nicely! -Candice
Ilium
Lea Carpenter
FICTION Carpente Lea
Suspense
"Fast-paced and powerful, gripping and immersive, this subtly crafted and suspenseful novel, set in the present and the immediate past, in the dark world of international espionage in London, Mallorca, Croatia, Paris, and Cap Ferret is told through its young female protagonist who unwittingly becomes a perfect asset in the long overdue finale of a special op. The young English narrator briefly tells us of her unhappy family life in London, wanting to escape, and of her childhood obsession with a locked private garden, near where her mother worked, accessible only to the owners of a few houses. Just as she is about to turn 21, at a party near that garden she meets its charismatic and mysterious new owner, Marcus, thirty-three years older, who sweeps her off her feet, proposes and soon they are married at his finca in Mallorca. On their honeymoon in Croatia, he reveals there is something she can do-a plan is in place and she can help with "a favor." Posing as an art adviser starts as soon as they meet up with Raja in Paris, who sends her off to stand in for him at a lunch of what he says are his friends at Cap Ferret where she must just "listen." A helicopter ride alone to a remote, highly guarded and regulated compound on a spit of land called Cap Ferret in the Atlantic is not what it seems. We meet the mysterious, and charming owner Edouard, along with his wife Dasha, children Nikki and Felix, among others. Everyone has a role, and almost everyone is scripted. Brilliantly compelling, this is a spellbinding and poignant story of a long planned joint CIA Mossad op that only needed the right asset to complete"--
Ilium is a spy novel, but calling it a spy novel is misleading. Yes, our main character is a spy, albeit accidental. And although there is action, it is a very slow burn to get to the action part. But I liked it. The novel is a revelatory one, much more interested in our main character (her past, how she got her, what motivates her) than the CIA ops. That is far more interesting to me than any street chase. -Anne M
Don't forget the girl : a novel
Rebecca McKanna
FICTION Mckanna Rebecca
Thriller, Suspense
"We never remember the dead girls. We never forget the killers. Twelve years ago, 18-year-old University of Iowa freshman Abby Hartmann disappeared. Now, Jon Allan Blue, the serial killer suspected of her murder, is about to be executed. Abby's best friends, Bree and Chelsea, watch as Abby's memory is unearthed and overshadowed by Blue and his flashier crimes. The friends, estranged in the wake of Abby's disappearance, and suffering from years of unvoiced resentments, must reunite when a high-profile podcast dedicates its next season to Blue's murders. Tense and introspective, Don't Forget the Girl is an astonishing debut thriller that mines the complexities of friendship and the secrets between us that we may take to the grave"--
I thought this a better-than-average serial killer story that has some realistic characterizations of secrets and insecurities of young adult girls. I love that it's set in Iowa City, and you can tell that the author actually experienced college at the University of Iowa. -Mari
Starter villain
John Scalzi
SCIENCE FICTION Scalzi John
Fantasy, Adventure, Suspense, Humor
"Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital. It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good. In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat"--
More red meat for Scalzi fans, with snappy dialog, constant forward moving action, interesting characters, even more interesting (incredible?) situations, and of course heavy doses of humor. Another one of his that's hard to set down. -Paul
The Golden Doves
Martha Hall Kelly
OverDrive eBook
Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Suspense
Two former female spies, bound together by their past, risk everything to hunt down an infamous Nazi doctor in the aftermath of World War II—a pulse-pounding novel inspired by true events from the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls “Martha Hall Kelly deftly illuminates little-known complexities of the post-war era while painting a vivid portrait of the deep scars and trauma that Holocaust survivors carried.”—Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Sapphire American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue are thrilled to be working in the French resistance, stealing so many Nazi secrets that they become known as the Golden Doves, renowned across France and hunted by the Gestapo. Their courage will cost them everything. When they are finally arrested and taken to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, along with their loved ones, a reclusive Nazi doctor does unspeakable things to Josie’s mother, a celebrated Jewish singer who joined her daughter in Paris when the world seemed bright. And Arlette’s son is stolen from her, never to be seen again. A decade later the Doves fall headlong into a dangerous dual mission: Josie is working for U.S. Army Intelligence and accepts an assignment to hunt down the infamous doctor, while a mysterious man tells Arlette he may have found her son. The Golden Doves embark on a quest across Europe and ultimately to French Guiana, discovering a web of terrible secrets, and must put themselves in grave danger to finally secure justice and protect the ones they love. Martha Hall Kelly has garnered acclaim for her stunning combination of empathy and research into the stories of women throughout history and for exploring the terrors of Ravensbrück. With The Golden Doves, she has crafted an unforgettable story about the fates of Nazi fugitives in the wake of World War II—and the unsung female spies who risked it all to bring them to justice.
These characters are fictional but they went through some real stuff. Simultaneously sad and exciting, I had to put it down a few times but I always came back. -Mykle
Beware the woman : a novel
Megan Abbott
FICTION Abbott Megan
Suspense, Fiction
"Newly married and with a baby on the way, Jacy and her new husband, Jed, embark on their first road trip together to visit his father, Dr. Ash, in Michigan's far-flung Upper Peninsula. The moment they arrive at the cottage snug within the lush woods, Jacy feels bathed in love by the warm and hospitable Dr. Ash, if less so by his house manager, the enigmatic Mrs. Brandt. But their Edenic first days take a turn when Jacy has a health scare. Swiftly, vacation activities are scrapped, and all eyes are on Jacy's condition. Suddenly, whispers about Jed's long-dead mother and complicated family history seem to eerily impinge upon the present, and Jacy begins to feel trapped in the cottage, her every move surveilled, her body under the looking glass. But are her fears founded or is it paranoia, or cabin fever, or--as is suggested to her--a stubborn refusal to take necessary precautions?"--
I've read most of Megan Abbott's books and always find them to be satisfying reads that keep the pages turning late at night. This is her newest, and has some moments that are absolutely terrifying. If you want a spine-tingling summer read with a dose of timely content regarding bodily autonomy during pregnancy - look no further. -Heidi K
Set in 1894 Minneapolis, the backdrop is a new city, teeming with possibilities--and every vice that comes with that. Abby, a progressive crusader and treasurer of the Bethany House for Unwed Mothers is desperately trying to solicit donations and lobby city leaders to support the work of the respite home. She needs to shore up their reputation as their work might not have the support of the incoming mayoral administration. And then Faith shows up. Newly pregnant, unable to speak, wearing an expensive gown, and looking as if she survived a serious act of violence, Faith is welcomed into the house’s community. But she comes with rumors—rumors of the occult, of magic powers, of mesmerism and she is quickly blamed by the other girls in the house for any small misfortune. Abby wants to help the girl—that is her prerogative and the purpose of the Bethany Home. But she also doesn’t want Faith’s reputation to be a blight on their tenuous stance in Minneapolis. She tasks May, Faith’s roommate to figure out how Faith got to Bethany. The answer is far more human than supernatural. -Anne M